(Photo by Lisa Dynes Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (July 31, 2017) – Austen Wheatley captured two top 10s last weekend during the Bob’s Burgers & Brew Summer Nationals at Skagit Speedway.
Wheatley, who was piloting his family owned No. 44w at the Northwest Challenge Series doubleheader, kicked off the weekend on Friday by qualifying ninth quickest around the high-banked oval. He then finished where he started – second – in a heat race to lock into the main event.
The top eight drivers in qualifying who advanced through a heat race made the feature redraw and Wheatley was able to move into the top eight when another driver who timed in better didn’t transfer through the heats. Wheatley pulled the No. 6 during the random redraw to start the main event on the outside of the third row.
“We had a mag going bad the whole night so we were really off on horsepower,” he said. “We weren’t sure if we were off on gear or fueling. We put a brand new mag in on Saturday and that fixed it.
“Everyone was around the bottom (during Friday’s A Main) and you’d wait for a guy to make a mistake. About halfway I was up to fifth and then on a restart I tried the middle to top and got freight trained and fell to around 10th.”
Wheatley rebounded in the closing laps to garner a sixth-place finish, which was his best result of the season at the track.
The event wrapped up on Saturday. Wheatley again qualified ninth quickest before he won a heat race after starting on the outside of the front row. That started him 11th for the 40-lap main event.
“The track was pretty good and a lot of fun,” he said. “I got up to fifth by halfway. I had just passed another driver and got a little tight on the top of the track in turns three and four. He came off the bottom straight to the wall and stuffed me into it. If I didn’t lift it would have junked my car.”
Wheatley fell outside the top 10 following the incident before he rallied in the final dozen laps to an eighth-place result. He has now earned a top-10 result during 12 of his last 17 360ci winged sprint car races at the track.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 28 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 9; Heat race: 2 (2); Feature: 6 (6).
July 29 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 9; Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 8 (11).
SEASON STATS –
18 races, 2 wins, 3 top fives, 9 top 10s, 13 top 15s, 14 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.AustenWheatley.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AustenWheatley
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DownForceDesigns?fref=ts
APPAREL –
Wheatley will have t-shirts and hoodies for sale at every race he competes at this season. For his schedule of races, visit http://www.AustenWheatley.com.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Redlined Welding & Construction
Redlined Welding & Construction performs welding and construction for fishing boats and processors. Based out of Lake Stevens, Wash., Redlined Welding & Construction is owned and operated by Austen’s father, Shannon Wheatley.
“Redlined Welding & Construction is a family business and we race with a family team so without Redlined Welding & Construction I wouldn’t be able to race,” Austen Wheatley said. “It is the heart and soul of this team.”
Wheatley would also like to thank Downforce Designs, Astro Titanium, Fire-Down Graphics, SpeedMart, Bell and King Racing Products for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jul 31, 2017
- Article Date: 7/31/2017 by Inside Line Promotions